Catering trucks would have to pay to do business in Palos Verdes Estates if the City Council tonight backs an item designed to give teeth to restrictions approved two months ago.

Annual permit fees – $266 for truck operators and $173 for each employee – would be required for trucks to continue to serve a clientele composed largely of construction workers and gardeners. Truck owners and employees also will need to pass a criminal background check to obtain a permit.

The fee proposal comes after the city in July moved to restrict when and where catering trucks can operate, with the goal of getting them out of residential neighborhoods and closer to the construction sites. That vote – which approved the broader permit system but didn’t specify fees – followed complaints by residents about trash and noise from the trucks.

“The situation has pretty much continued. The vendors haven’t gone away – they’re still parking and looking for the patrons to come to them,” said City Manager Joe Hoefgen. “The goal here is not to prevent them from doing business but to channel their work so that they’re going to the construction.”

Catering trucks – which serve largely Mexican specialties and are sometimes referred to as “taco trucks” – have been a hot topic in the Los Angeles area since the county earlier this year approved restrictions forcing the vehicle owners to move every hour or face fines of up to $1,000 or six months in jail.

The county’s restrictions were thrown out late last month by a Superior Court judge. On Monday, county officials asked the judge to consider reinstating the rule.

In Palos Verdes Estates, trucks are required to move every 30 minutes and must park within 250 feet of a restroom that customers are permitted to use, per the ordinance passed in July.

If the new permit fees are approved, trucks will have a grace period in which to submit applications and wait for approval. After that, the city will begin enforcement, Hoefgen said.

The proposed fees are intended to reflect the actual cost to have city staff check applications and issue permits – and not to dissuade truck owners from operating in Palos Verdes Estates, Hoefgen said.

City staff chose the recommended fee amounts by taking the average of license fees charged by Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach for massage parlor owners and technicians. Those systems were a model because the two beach cities run background checks, Hoefgen said.

Exactly what kind of crimes would disqualify a truck owner or employee from operating within Palos Verdes Estates limits remains unclear.

“I think we’ll just look at each one on a case-by-case basis,” Hoefgen said. “It’s the more serious offenses we’d be concerned about.”

The city also proposes to charge $250 for an operator to appeal a permit denial or revocation.

Neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes does not charge for what it calls “peddling” permits.

Implementation of that city’s permit system in 2006 led in part to more trucks parking across the border in Palos Verdes Estates, city officials have said.